It is dark, cold and rainy in Vancouver and that can only mean good news for beer enthusiasts because the seasonal ales are finally here again. The fast approaching holiday season seems to bring out the kid in all of us -beer drinkers and brewers alike. That time when we want to spice things up, ramp up the roasted malts, kick up the ABV, lovingly cask our beers in winter spirits like rum and brandy, sprinkle in a little dried fruit and add a titch of vanilla to create those ever so wondrous winter ales. Not to mention the plethora of fantastic (and cheeky) beer names and labels that adorn these seasonal creations. To kick off a series of blog posts relating to the wonder that is winter beer I thought I would give my top twelve seasonal beer names (not to be confused with my top twelve stocking stuffers):
1) Ridgeway Santa’s Butt Holiday Porter AND Lump of Coal Dark Holiday Stout AND Seriously Bad Elf (three-way tie from the creative folks at Ridgeway)
2) BrewDog There is No Santa
3) Full Sail Wassail
4) Blue Ridge Snowball’s Chance Winter Ale
5) Deschutes Jubelale
6) Rogue Santa’s Private Reserve AND Yellow Snow
7) Moylan’s White Christmas
8) Boulder Never Summer Ale
9) Odell Brewing Company’s Isolation Ale
10) R&B Brewing Co. Iceholes Celebration Lager
11) Leavenworth Snowblind
12) Samuel Adams Old Fezziwig
*Honourable mention to the Hanukkah themed He’Brew Jewbelation
